Well screen



June 9,1931: @.Ausfm' 1, 1,808,803

WELL SCREEN E'25 of `parts 145. Figure Patented June 9,'1931 GEORGE AUSTIN, or KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI' WELL SCREEN Aptncatia med Aprii 15,

' This invention relates to concrete screens for wells of that class consisting of -a series of 'circular Sections superimposed upon eachv other from the bottom ofthe well tota point f above the strata of the A ground through` which the Vflow of water occurs-for charging the "well, the screen members being strungl upon cables or rods, and enclosed by a `iilter in the form of gravel, whereby sand shallbe excluded froinwater passages provided in the membersso that such passages shall not become clogged tothe flow ofwater intothe well. l 1 'a There have been many well screens' of the general type mentioned, and my object is to provide a constructionin which the vmem-v bers are provided with slots or passages ofV novel form and adapted to provideforvthe greatest intake of water possible without 1ma pairingor'weakening the strength and durabilit ofthe members; f `llVith this general object in view the in-V vention `consists in certain novel and .useful features of construction and combinations as hereinaftery "described and claimed; Vand in orderthatitmay be fully understood, reference istobe had `to the accompanying drawings,in which:

Figure 1 is a viewof two membersof a wellrscreenconstructedand arrangedin a`c cordance Vwith the invention, half of `the l uper .member appearing in side elevation and the other half incentral vertical section'.

`Figure 2 isa fragmentary irregular horiz'ontal section on the lineII-II of Figure 1,.

part of the underlyingl plan'view. ,l

Figure 3 is an enlargedl vertical section on the lineIIIe-III of Figure 2.` v

`40` Figure lisfaverticalsection on'the line' IV-,IVO Figure 3'.l -Figure is aplan view of apart of a Vpattern used in the production of a screen member. f i

member appearing in `6 is a detail perspective of the pat! tern element disclosed by Figure 5. 1

Referring `to the drawings in detail, ll indicates one of the circular screen members of lconcrete'or the like' of a well casing, all

A; of the` members being identicaliin'construcfy or the underlying screen member, as 'the case may be. To still further increase the 'capacity V80 height of eachV member thereof, vthus 4giving very greatintake'capacity'for each member,

time, work its way with' the Water through 1929. serial No. 355,275.

tion and'suiicient in number as' hereinbeor'e stated, tov extend from: the bottom of the well t to a Vplane-slightly above that of the strata of groundr through which the water lows` to thewell hole. i The members are providedin their lower sides witha plurality of radial slots or pas- Y sages 2 spaced relatively close together so as to provide between thema series of radial partitions 3 and4, the latter being considerably narrower than the former. The partitions 3 are disposed in diametricallyopf posite pairs; It isl desirable thatthe partitions llshall be as numerous as possible without making them so narrow as to impair the strengthand durability of" the memberas 'a whole, as the water' intake capacity of the well screen increases with the increase in thej number of the slots or passages 2. "To provide for `maximum uninterrupted flow of water into the screen, thelower ends of slots or passages 2 are widened as at 5, bythe formation of radial recesses inthe lower ends of thepartitions. The widening of said slots or passages correspondingly narrows the lower ends'of the partitions l but leaves the latter wide enough for.. substantial contact witha prepared conoretebase (not shown) of thetscreen, for receiving water at a rapid rate, the outer face ot each member in the t radial'plane of eachV slotor passageV 2, is provided-with averticalfgroove or' passage 6, constituting an vextension for eachslot orf passage 2,'the extensions terminating close to thegupper endof the member. By this arrangement, it is possible Vfor water' to start entering the screen for practically theV full and the water entering the extensionsl flows downwardly and inwardly, and not only tends to 'increase the rapiditypfflow in-y wardly 'through theslots or passages 2, butby striking the directiiow through the latterV at 'an angle, has atendency to check and hence excludefanysand'o1-tine gravel from thefsaid slots or passages, which might in the conventional enclosing gravel filter, not

fshown. In thisconnection it will be noted by reference tothe drawings, and more particularly to Figures and 6, that the passages 6 are of'increasing cross sectional area in a downward direction', by virtue of the fact f that the inner wall diverges downwardly Ving passages Zincreasesin an inward direc-v d. tion, by virtue of the fact that the sidewalls shall diverge upwardly slightly withrespectV likely t'o be clogged by gravel Vorthe like, then if of uniform kcross sectional area, andv the patterns by which the passages are formed of such passages diverge inwardly anddown.- wardly. It is also preferred y that the Yinner wallor base wall of saidwradia-l passagesv to the lower ends `of the passages, as shown by -F-igure 3, The l' provision ,of theradial and vertical passages or channels of increase' ing cross sectional area in an inward and downward direction subserve a :dual function,

in that the passages or `channels are less `can be withdrawn from the mold, when lthe sand is sufficiently seu-without injury to :the portionsbetween or Vcorners of the passages',

this lfreedom of withdrawal of the patterns ybeing-especially important wherezthewpassages or .channels arenumerousiand occupy a close relationship.

- The type of pattern" used for lproducing the passages 2 and 6 in themeinbers are of angle form, the arm 7 vbeing tapered upwardlyatvits sides and sloping upwardly and outp wardly at its inner edge to formone of theV passages 6, and the horizontal arm A*8 project-V ing inwardly from the ylower end of armrf? and beingr rof upwardly taperingformin cross section. Its upper` edge also is designed because of the form of the arm 8, increasing slightly-in cross sectional area from itsijunction ofthe arm '7' with its ,inner extremity whichwill be flush 'withthe innerface or wall of the member. In the.l production off'each member therewill of course be. as'imanyof. these'patterns as there are combined passages 2 and6 produced' in each member. r

Four of the wider partitions 3 v(of which' there are preferably eight), vare provided with vertical holes V9.- 'for the` reception rvof means whereby the members yof the screen are Y maintainedY in'proper registry. Thep'relferred'means for holding thescreen mem- 1 bers inpropereoncentricrel'ationshipjis by cables l0 extending through the four holes -79 of all of the members, the cables being against withdrawal below; the llowest screen member, as common..` f f,

adaptedto beknottedor otherwise secured From the foregoing, taken in conjunction with the drawings, it vwill be apparent that I have produced a well screen of concrete or the like, having. great water-intake capacity, and in which the screen members'are .of very simple, strong and durable construction, each member having, in the aggregate, a large number of points of contact with theV underlying section, as distinguished from the types of well screens which have ordinarily about veight relatively small Vpoints of Contact between ,Y members. In the latter construction the cables or connecting rods must be relied upon to .a greaterextent in preventing rotative' or lateral shifting of the screen mem- Yberstending to .throw them out of'ali'ne'ment or register, than .withl the construction of this invention wherethe area of contact/between adjacent screen .members is yrelatively' much greater, there being aproximately one-half ofv the area of the lower endof each screen mem? ber in frictional contact with the .underlying screen member and'hence a proportionate Vinfl crease of frictional resistancey to the shifting" of one screen member upon another. i

, As the direction ofpow of water into the screen has been explained, nor-,general ref; capitulation thereof is deemed necessary,`but

I reserve the .right to make such changesas properly fall within the spirit .and scope of the appended claims. f f 1 Y "1I-claim: 1

' f A-wellscreen comprising va plurality vof Y superimposedring-members, each providedk .00'

and increasing the iividthfof the lower endsof Y therespecti-ve slots orv passages.y to slope downwardly and outwardly slight-f lly. The arm 8 is intended to produc'e the. passageQ in .the member, thefsaid. passage,

2. A well screen comprising a plural-it'yfof superimposedv ringy members, each` provided withl radialslots orpassages in their lower ends, the slots" or passages vhaving upward ex-` tensions in the form of grooves,inthe exterior Y surface of themember; the saidV ezdjenrsionsl be- Y ing @uniform width in the piane of the Cir-v cumferential surfacepof the member, and of gradually increasing'fdepthinwardly toward their lower'ends and also of graduallyA in# creasingv width from their upper toftheir lower ends; the 'lowerjend of'themember being formed with spaced recesses individual;

to andfcommunicating with and increasing the-widthof'the lower ends of theresperctive slots orpassages. n

k3. A well screen memberof ring form having a smooth upper horizontal surface and a ygrooved horizontal under surface, and' pro-1 vided at spaced' intervals with vertical passages in its'outer surface which extendffrom' the lower' surface to within arelatively short distanceof the' upper surface,said`passages ins being of inwardly expanding Width, the member being also formed in its lower surface with radial passages in the vertical plane of and communicating at their outer ends with and narrower than the lower ends of the i 

